Sir, – The result of a second ballot on the admission of women members at Muirfield Golf Club will be announced next month.
A lot has been said about how disgraceful it is that there are men-only golf clubs.
There are numerous men-only and women-only golf and other organisations throughout Britain and, indeed, the world.
Augusta National Golf Club in America went through a similar challenge and now, despite having only three lady members, can be classed as a mixed golf club.
That is three ladies out of 300 members.
They are Condoleezza Rice, Darla Moore and Ginni Rometty who were able to pay the fees estimated to vary between $25,000 and $50,000.
The annual fees at Muirfield are the costs divided by the number of members so these could be substantial and there is a long waiting list.
How many ladies could afford to join Muirfield just to make a political statement?
In July 2016, Royal Troon voted to allow lady members so one could ask how many have applied to become members or would the answer be embarrassing?
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.
Danger of free press attacks
Sir, – Alex Salmond has been attacking the media of late.
Take, for example, the interview with Mr Salmond, above, during Sunday Politics Scotland on February 12.
Asked by Gordon Brewer if the SNP – in the event of a second independence referendum – should stick to joining the EU, he replied: “Why shouldn’t we in a week when the mainstream media had made total fools of themselves by seemingly deliberately misinterpreting remarks from Jacqueline Minor, the European Commission’s representative in the UK, who has…said exactly the opposite of what the mainstream media and your co- presenter Andrew Neil was claiming.”
On independence support he claimed that there was “this comfortable assumption among the Government…despite the fact that 16 out of 17 opinion polls since Brexit have shown support for independence higher than it was in September 2014” and that this comfort came from “reading perhaps in the mainstream media that independence support was on the decline”.
Donald Trump would have put it more bluntly: “The mainstream media are lying.“
This accusation is a propaganda instrument used by populists across the political spectrum.
It is designed to undermine trust in independent, questioning journalism as one of the pillars of liberal democracy.
If Mr Salmond wants to distance himself from the nationalist populism we presently see on the rise in Europe and America, he should stop attacking the free press.
Regina Erich.
1 Willow Row,
Stonehaven.
Get to grips with absences
Sir, – Once again we are seeing shocking figures of sick leave in the NHS. The last time it was the police service so who will it be next?
Why is it only public-sector workers who are afflicted by all these illnesses? Why is this not a problem in the private sector?
Maybe the cause is the bottomless pit of money in the public sector because in private industry you would go out of business running at these sickness levels.
It is high time the overpaid chiefs who run these departments got to grips with this farce.
Bob Duncan.
110 Caesar Avenue,
Carnoustie.
Portugal can show the way
Sir, – I am struck by the fact that the Portuguese government has slashed the debt-heavy country’s budget deficit to its lowest level in more than 40 years, despite warnings that its anti-austerity policies could spell financial disaster.
Some other eurozone countries expressed alarm when the centre-left socialist government, with the support of the Communist Party, took power in 2015 on an anti-austerity platform.
Portugal needed a 78 billion euro bailout in 2011 after recording a deficit of more than 11% the previous year, and eurozone officials feared it could go into another debt spiral under the socialists.
However, the Government’s budget last year cut taxes and restored civil servants’ salaries, eased a surtax tax on employees’ incomes and breathed new life into the welfare system.
So, while we pursue a remorseless austerity agenda in the United Kingdom, what Portugal has demonstrated, despite concerns over the economic policies it is pursuing, is that there is another way.
Rather than blindly following an austerity agenda, the example set by Portugal is something we in the UK would be well-advised to take note of.
Alex Orr.
77 Leamington Terrace,
Edinburgh.
Ban mobile phone drivers
Sir, – Once again I find myself bemoaning the fact that the penalties for driving while using a mobile phone are wholly inadequate.
Until there is at least a three-month ban put in place for the offence, then many drivers will continue to offend.
Eric Travers.
38 Gellatly Road,
Dunfermline.
Big gamble for Scotland
Sir, – The Scottish Government has an ambition, not to anyone’s surprise, to become a fully-fledged independent member state within the European Union.
Consigned to the dustbin of history, courtesy of the Brexit vote, is the lazy assumption that an independent Scotland would have been accorded all the rights and privileges ascribed to the member state, the United Kingdom.
The cold-hearted reality, post Brexit, is that an independent Scotland, to which I am opposed, will have to formally apply to become a member state.
Is the Scottish public willing to give body and soul to the EU, adopt the Euro and forego all opt-outs as well as conform to fiscal requirements?
Would it be right to allow any future independence referendum to be taken as permission to bounce the electorate into the European Union regardless?
Ron Sturrock.
53 Grampian View,
Ferryden.